Originally published January 23 2004
The truth behind the gutting of California's anti-spam law
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
On this site, I promise to being you, "The News Behind The News on
Spam." So here's the straight dope on the CAN-SPAM act, like you've
never heard it before: the CAN-SPAM act was only passed because the
California anti-spam law struck fear into the hearts of direct marketers
and the DMA, who have for many years been proponents of an opt-out
approach to email, which most people equate with spamming. Washington
lawmakers like Senator Wyden were doing the best they could to get tough
anti-spam legislation passed, but they couldn't fend off the special
interest pressure of the DMA, so they ended up with a compromise that
basically guts the strong opt-in California law. As a result, California
is left with nothing with which to battle spammers -- precisely
the outcome hoped for by those who fought the California law in the
first place. Put another way, we ended up with a federal anti-spam
law that helped spammers because it gutted the much stronger
California anti-spam law. Want proof? Check your inbox.
- SAN FRANCISCO -- California lawyers and law enforcement officials
continued their assault on the Can-Spam act Thursday, calling it
ineffective and warning attendees at a conference on spam and the law
that a solution to the spam scourge is still a distant dream.
- In his keynote speech, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer called
the limitations "disempowering" and warned that his office did not have
the resources to track and prosecute spammers on its own.
- "The Can-Spam act calls on a multi-tiered approach for enforcement,
which includes the FTC, ISPs, and attorney generals from each state,"
said Chris Fitzgerald, press secretary for Oregon Sen.
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